Jesus scores twice as Arsenal defeat Leeds

Arsenal made no mistake as they dispatched Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium to maintain their eight-point lead at the top of the table.

It doesn’t matter what Manchester City do as long as Mikel Arteta’s team keep on winning but they almost conceded within seconds of this one when Aaron Ramsdale was needed to stop Rasmus Kristensen’s effort.

Leeds started to get into the game midway through the second half with Ramsdale needing to make saves from Crys Summerville and Brenden Aaronson just after the half-hour mark.

But just as the visitors were starting to get going they conceded a penalty. Luke Ayling left a foot in the air that Gabriel Jesus did well to make sure he definitely made contact with. The Brazilian then took the subsequent penalty, slotting the ball down the middle to score his first Premier League goal in six months.

While Leeds had shown some promise in the opening 45 minutes, Arsenal were far superior in the second period.

With just two minutes gone into the second period, Gabriel Martinelli did well to cut inside from the left to fire a low cross that Ben White was able to latch onto at the far post and finish.

Gabriel Jesus and Leonardo Trossard combined well to cut through the Leeds defence with the Belgian then laying the ball on a plate for Jesus to get his second.

Leeds did pull one goal back in the 76th minute when Kristensen’s shot from just on the edge of the area took a deflection off Oleksandr Zinchenko which meant Ramsdale couldn’t get to it.

Arsenal had time to reclaim their three-goal advantage with a lovely ball from Martin Odegaard that Granit Xhaka drifted into the area to head past Illan Meslier.

It was an impressive second-half performance from the Gunners after some nervous moments early on but they got another all-important win in the quest for the title.

xG: Arsenal (3.68) 4-1 (0.83) Leeds United

Four goals.
Three points.
Two Gabby goals.
One big team win. pic.twitter.com/tAmZFZltbB

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 1, 2023